We can experience something in the natural world without knowing exactly what it is we're seeing, hearing, and feeling. And we can learn about some aspect of nature through second-hand knowledge, without ever experiencing it with our senses. Each situation represents a partial connection. The former may affect us at deeper levels than the latter, but adding some cerebral knowledge will make it a more complete connection and may add a new dimension to our joy when we revisit our experience. On the other hand if we immerse ourselves in a new situation of which we have foreknowledge but not experience we will have the unmitigated thrill of watching our knowledge play out in our sensory space. And the result will be a much stronger connection to that the event that we witnessed.
So if we start with an immersion experience we can buttress it with knowledge and make it into a stronger, longer lasting connection with nature. If we have become acquainted with nature by first observing it through the windows of the mind, we can turn our knowledge into a strong and lasting nature connection by stepping outside and having a relevant experience. Or better yet, many relevant experiences.
No matter which way we approach the natural world we can strengthen our connection through bridging between experience and knowledge. And by doing so we bootstrap ourselves to stronger more enjoyable connections with nature.
Maybe this sounds blatantly obvious. But so do all the admonishments we hear regarding the combination of diet and exercise as the way to a better life. We should keep in mind that the obvious provides no benefit if we fail to act on it. So let's go out for experience and in for knowledge and bridge them to create nature connections that will soothe us when we want soothing and elate us when we reflect on the wonder of it all
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